Sandy Hook students back to school full time

Nanci G. Hutson

Updated 5:24 pm, Friday, January 4, 2013

A Sandy Hook Elementary student flashes a sign as children leave on a school bus in Newtown, Connecticut on January 3, 2013. Students at the elementary school where a gunman massacred 26 children and teachers last month were returning Thursday to classes at an alternative campus described by police as "the safest school in America." Survivors were finally to start their new academic year in the nearby town of Monroe, where a disused middle school has been converted and renamed from its original Chalk Hill to Sandy Hook.

Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AFP/Getty Images

A Sandy Hook Elementary student flashes a sign as children leave on...

A sign reads 'Welcome We Love You' beneath a sign pointing to the location of Chalk Hill School, which has been refurbished and renamed Sandy Hook Elementary School on January 3, 2013 in Monroe, Connecticut. Sandy Hook students started their first day of classes in the new building following the mass shooting at the old school in Newtown that left 20 students and six faculty members dead.

Photo: Mario Tama, Getty Images

A sign reads 'Welcome We Love You' beneath a sign pointing to the...

Chalk Hill School in Monroe is recreated as Sandy Hook Elementary School on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, the first day back at school for students who survived the Newtown school shooting.

Chalk Hill School in Monroe is recreated as Sandy Hook Elementary...

A heart and cross memorial in front of a house near Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown honors victims of the Dec. 14 shooting with white crosses that bear all of the 26 victims' names. Photographed Thursday, Jan. 3, 2012.
Photo: Michael Duffy, Nanci Hutson

This painted block in front of Connecticut Precast Corp. on a road leading to the former Chalk Hill School in Monroe welcomes Sandy Hook Elmentary School students on the first day back to classes after the Dec. 14th shootings in Newtown. Photographed Thursday, Jan. 3, 2012.
Photo: Nanci Hutson

The rear of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown remains blocked...

A hand-crafted wooden ribbon stands in front of Jay's Firewood and Tree Service, near the former Chalk Hill School in Monroe, to show support for the Sandy Hook Elementary School students who came to the school from Newtown, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2012.
Photo: Nanci Hutson

A sign welcoming children from Sandy Hook Elementary school sits on the road in Monroe, Connecticut on January 3, 2013. Students at the elementary school where a gunman massacred 26 children and teachers last month were returning Thursday to classes at an alternative campus described by police as "the safest school in America." Survivors were finally to start their new academic year in the nearby town of Monroe, where a disused middle school has been converted and renamed from its original Chalk Hill to Sandy Hook.

Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AFP/Getty Images

A sign welcoming children from Sandy Hook Elementary school sits on...

A Sandy Hook Elementary student looks out the window as children leave on a school bus in Newtown, Connecticut on January 3, 2013. Students at the elementary school where a gunman massacred 26 children and teachers last month were returning Thursday to classes at an alternative campus described by police as "the safest school in America." Survivors were finally to start their new academic year in the nearby town of Monroe, where a disused middle school has been converted and renamed from its original Chalk Hill to Sandy Hook.

Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AFP/Getty Images

A Sandy Hook Elementary student looks out the window as children...

Sandy Hook Elementary students leave on a school bus in Newtown, Connecticut on January 3, 2013. Students at the elementary school where a gunman massacred 26 children and teachers last month were returning Thursday to classes at an alternative campus described by police as "the safest school in America." Survivors were finally to start their new academic year in the nearby town of Monroe, where a disused middle school has been converted and renamed from its original Chalk Hill to Sandy Hook.

Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AFP/Getty Images

Sandy Hook Elementary students leave on a school bus in Newtown,...

Sandy Hook Elementary students leave on a school bus in Newtown, Connecticut on January 3, 2013. Students at the elementary school where a gunman massacred 26 children and teachers last month were returning Thursday to classes at an alternative campus described by police as "the safest school in America." Survivors were finally to start their new academic year in the nearby town of Monroe, where a disused middle school has been converted and renamed from its original Chalk Hill to Sandy Hook.

Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AFP/Getty Images

Sandy Hook Elementary students leave on a school bus in Newtown,...

Sandy Hook Elementary students leave on a school bus in Newtown, Connecticut on January 3, 2013. Students at the elementary school where a gunman massacred 26 children and teachers last month were returning Thursday to classes at an alternative campus described by police as "the safest school in America." Survivors were finally to start their new academic year in the nearby town of Monroe, where a disused middle school has been converted and renamed from its original Chalk Hill to Sandy Hook.

Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AFP/Getty Images

Sandy Hook Elementary students leave on a school bus in Newtown,...

Roses with the faces of the Sandy Hook Elementary students and adults killed are seen on a pole in Newtown, Connecticut on January 3, 2013. Students at the elementary school where a gunman massacred 26 children and teachers last month were returning Thursday to classes at an alternative campus described by police as "the safest school in America." Survivors were finally to start their new academic year in the nearby town of Monroe, where a disused middle school has been converted and renamed from its original Chalk Hill to Sandy Hook.

Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AFP/Getty Images

Roses with the faces of the Sandy Hook Elementary students and...

Some of the remaining memorial items to Sandy Hook Elementary students and staff who died are viewed in Newtown, Connecticut on January 3, 2013. Students at the elementary school where a gunman massacred 26 children and teachers last month were returning Thursday to classes at an alternative campus described by police as "the safest school in America." Survivors were finally to start their new academic year in the nearby town of Monroe, where a disused middle school has been converted and renamed from its original Chalk Hill to Sandy Hook.

Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AFP/Getty Images

Some of the remaining memorial items to Sandy Hook Elementary...

Some of the remaining memorial items to Sandy Hook Elementary students and staff who died are viewed in Newtown, Connecticut on January 3, 2013. Students at the elementary school where a gunman massacred 26 children and teachers last month were returning Thursday to classes at an alternative campus described by police as "the safest school in America." Survivors were finally to start their new academic year in the nearby town of Monroe, where a disused middle school has been converted and renamed from its original Chalk Hill to Sandy Hook.

Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AFP/Getty Images

Some of the remaining memorial items to Sandy Hook Elementary...

Some of the remaining memorial items to Sandy Hook Elementary students and staff who died are viewed in Newtown, Connecticut on January 3, 2013. Students at the elementary school where a gunman massacred 26 children and teachers last month were returning Thursday to classes at an alternative campus described by police as "the safest school in America." Survivors were finally to start their new academic year in the nearby town of Monroe, where a disused middle school has been converted and renamed from its original Chalk Hill to Sandy Hook.

Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AFP/Getty Images

Some of the remaining memorial items to Sandy Hook Elementary...

A flag outside the Sandy Hook Fire department in Newtown, Connecticut on January 3, 2013. Students at the elementary school where a gunman massacred 26 children and teachers last month were returning Thursday to classes at an alternative campus described by police as "the safest school in America." Survivors were finally to start their new academic year in the nearby town of Monroe, where a disused middle school has been converted and renamed from its original Chalk Hill to Sandy Hook.

Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AFP/Getty Images

A flag outside the Sandy Hook Fire department in Newtown,...

A police road block is at the entrance to the new Sandy Hook Elementary School on the first day of classes in Monroe, Conn., Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. The school, formerly known as Chalk Hill School, was overhauled specially for the students from the Sandy Hook School shooting in Newtown, in the neighboring town of Monroe, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Photo: Jessica Hill, ASSOCIATED PRESS

A police road block is at the entrance to the new Sandy Hook...

A police road block is at the entrance to the new Sandy Hook Elementary School on the first day of classes in Monroe, Conn., Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. The school, formerly known as Chalk Hill School, was overhauled specially for the students from the Sandy Hook School shooting in Newtown, in the neighboring town of Monroe, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Photo: Jessica Hill, ASSOCIATED PRESS

A police road block is at the entrance to the new Sandy Hook...

This photo provided by the Monroe Police Department shows the new Sandy Hook Elementary School on the first day of classes in Monroe, Conn., Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. The school, formerly known as Chalk Hill School, was overhauled especially for the students from the Sandy Hook School shooting in Newtown, in the neighboring town of Monroe, Conn. (AP Photo/Monroe Police Department)
Photo: Uncredited, ASSOCIATED PRESS

This photo provided by the Monroe Police Department shows the new...

This photo provided by the Monroe Police Department shows the new Sandy Hook Elementary School on the first day of classes in Monroe, Conn., Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. The school, formerly known as Chalk Hill School, was overhauled especially for the students from the Sandy Hook School shooting in Newtown, in the neighboring town of Monroe, Conn. (AP Photo/Monroe Police Department)
Photo: Uncredited, ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONROE -- Sandy Hook Elementary School fourth-graders and twins Benjamin and Ethan Paley marched up the steps of their school bus Thursday for their first official day at their new school "and didn't look back.''

Their father, Andrew Paley, said the boys were fearless, eagerly waving goodbye until they reunited in the front lobby of Chalk Hill Middle School, renamed Sandy Hook Elementary, at least until the end of this year.

Parents were welcome to spend part or all of the day in the new school Thursday as part of the transition, a gesture Paley said seemed needed more for parents than for the students.

Monroe officials donated the closed school to Newtown after the Dec. 14 shooting of 20 first-graders and six educators, including Principal Dawn Hochsprung, at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The school remains a crime scene.

The Paley twins were among some 500 Sandy Hook students on Thursday who resumed doing "things we know are good for kids,'' said Newtown Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson.

Wearing coats, mittens and hats on a sunny, yet frigid, morning, Sandy Hook's kindergarten to fourth-grade students rode to their new school in Newtown All-Star Transportation buses, some pressing their faces to the windows.

Along the route, students saw handmade greetings, angel statues to honor the memory of their lost classmates and educators, bouquets of balloons in the Sandy Hook green-and-white colors, and pledges of love and prayer from their host community.

Inside the school, children entered classrooms that resembled their former rooms, with desks lined up the same way and left-behind belongings arranged as they were when they fled Sandy Hook three weeks ago.

One difference for students and parents, and the community, is a stepped-up police presence.

"They picked the right police officers,'' Paley said. "They are amazing with the kids. They (students) know they are police, but they get right down on their knees and crack jokes with them. I couldn't be happier with the police that were there.''

Thursday was not the Paley twins' first trip to their new school. They visited the two-school campus tucked into a windy, residential neighborhood at least three or four times during the holiday break. On Wednesday, they joined many fellow Sandy Hook families for a two-hour open house.

"They absolutely love it," Paley said. "There is a lot of cool stuff ... but it's still not the same,'' he said, quoting his twins' reaction.

Interim Principal Donna Page, who was Sandy Hook's principal before her retirement in 2010, assured parents in a letter that the victims "are not far from any of their hearts and minds.

"Your strength and compassion has been, and will continue to be an inspiration to me and countless others as we work to honor the memory of your precious children and our beloved staff,'' Page said in the letter.